One of the iconic female professionals promoting African arts, culture and entertainment is Botswana’s Zenzele Hirschfeld whose foray into the entertainment space in 1998 has made significant impact on the continent.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
Going Professional with the registration of Zen Promotions in 2001, Hirschfeld’s dexterous attitude to her works exude characteristics that comes naturally. She believes she didn’t choose the profession but found herself working in the creative space in the Central African Republic.
After over 20 years of hard work in Botswana’s fledgling entertainment industry Promoter Zenzele Hirschfeld was recognised in 2022 when she emerged as the best woman promoting Entertainment, Arts, culture and heritage at the country’s first Women’s Awards hosted in Gaborone.
“Firstly, winning this award means that behind every work that women do there is somebody who notices the impact, the contribution and the growth that we get to do,”
“Most times people who work behind the scenes are rarely noticed. Artists get the recognition and this award to me shows that even though you are doing it from a different space and you think that nobody is noticing, there are people watching. It’s been a long time coming”, she said in an interview.
As the most experienced female promoter with artist management experience in the country, Hirschfeld has also expanded her portfolio to women empowerment.
In 2018 she established “Women of Works” after observing that women in the media and the creative space were not given sufficient platforms.
She will host a concert with Women of Song Ensemble that features Nnunu Ramogotsi-Neill, Punah Gabasiane-Molale and Nono Siile in two weeks.
“We need laws that protect and govern certain things run for women in the creative space,” she told Time Out. “We need such laws enacted to protect us because 90 percent of events are male-dominated even in terms of line-up and services. We rarely see women being afforded the same opportunities.”
The founder of Zen Promotions explained that it’s not easy being a woman because they have to work harder to prove themselves in the male-dominated field.
Hirschfeld believes the Setswana adage “Ga di etelelwe pele ke manamagadi,” which loosely translates into “The female of the species is not to lead,” has also influenced the way people justify doing things across many industries, including the creative space.
“It is something we grew up hearing,” she noted. “If you try to stand up as a woman, the men always feel you should not because the society that raises us believes that men are born better.
“Dear a rising Zenzele, never give up on yourself if you have your eyes set on a vision or a dream no matter how long it takes because it takes years for people to recognise. I pray that the generation of now, the older generation will get to prepare for them by advocating for policies to change so that our future Zenzeles are protected and guided.”
“It’s always been a calling because when I was in secondary school, I was chosen to be a prefect of arts,” she said in an interview. “In junior secondary school I was always this individual who always contributed to bringing shows together.”
Kindly Share
